New government warning: Terrorist may surgically implant bombs

U.S.: Terrorist may surgically implant bombs New government warning: Terrorist may surgically implant bombs.

(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has warned domestic and international airlines that some terrorists are considering surgically implanting explosives into humans to carry out attacks, The Associated Press has learned.

There is no intelligence pointing to a specific plot, but the U.S. shared its concerns last week with executives at domestic and international carriers.

People traveling to the U.S. from overseas may experience additional screening at airports because of the threat, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

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"These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same activity at every international airport," TSA spokesman Nick Kimball said. "Measures may include interaction with passengers, in addition to the use of other screening methods such as pat-downs and the use of enhanced tools and technologies."

Placing explosives and explosive components inside humans to hide bombs and evade security measures is not a new idea. But there is new intelligence pointing to a fresh interest in using this tactic, a U.S. security official told the AP. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security information.

When the U.S. government receives information suggesting terror tactics that could threaten commercial aviation, the TSA alerts companies domestically and abroad. Last December, the U.S. received intelligence that al Qaeda's Yemen branch was considering hiding explosives inside insulated beverage containers to carry them on airplanes. That warning was shared with domestic and foreign airlines so that security could be on the lookout, even though there was no specific plot.

Airport security has increased markedly since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. But terrorists remain interested in attacking aviation and continue to adapt to the new security measures by trying to develop ways to circumvent them.

Intel chair: Qaeda dead set on U.S. attacks

Last month, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said May's killing of Osama bin Laden hasn't cut down on al Qaeda's drive to carry out terror attacks within the United States.

The chairman, Republican Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, issued such a warning about the terror network's Yemeni chapter, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

"Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is strictly, or has been strictly focused on attacks in the U.S. homeland," Rogers told ABC News. "This morning, when you're over your breakfast cereal there is somebody in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula planning another attack in the U.S."

In the files that U.S. Navy SEALs recovered from bin Laden's Pakistani compound May 2, the intelligence community found further information that bin Laden urged his supporters to carry out attacks within U.S. borders, ABC reported.

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Also, The Associated Press has reported that bin Laden supported the Yemeni group's focus on smaller operations. According to bin Laden's private journal, he had urged Qaeda operatives to broaden its focus of U.S. targets to include smaller cities and other means of mass transportation such as trains instead of commercial airliners, the AP reported.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been linked to three specific incidents in the past two years: the Fort Hood shooting massacre allegedly carried out by Army psychologist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the attempted bombing of a commercial airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day and the foiled plot to detonate bombs hidden inside computer printers on planes over the United States.